Aragorn: a walk through Moria
by BelinBane
Summary: Hey! The beginning of an adventure for Aragorn as he struggles to bring the Hobbits through the dark journey that are the mines of Moria. After Gandalf is lost, wounded and grim, Strider must carry on! Please note that I am french so I have done my best to write in English but I can t promise anything! I really hope you enjoy and any review is always welcome!
Aragorn jumped from the bridge at the last moment, flames erupting behind him as it exploded. He landed rolling on the floor as huge chunks of rocks fell above his head and arrows from the orcs whistled past him.

"Aragorn, hurry up, the cave is collapsing!" screamed Legolas as he watched the ranger stumbling upon the trembling ground. With astonishment he saw him get up and run back toward the fallen bridge.

"What in the Valar does that crazy human think he´s doing" cursed the elf under his breath. But of course he knew exactly what he was doing. Aragorn, in a desperate moment, had gone back for Gandalf. But Legolas also knew that all hope was lost. He had seen the Balrog´s whip curling around the wizard´s knees and dragging him down with him, into whatever hell was in the deep of Moria. He felt the loss of Mithrandir in his heart and knew he had to reach Aragorn before he made a mistake.

Unable to wait any longer, the elf ran to the ranger and grabbed his arm. Immediately, the human shook off his grip and this time, Legolas wrapped both his arms around Aragorn´s shoulders and dragged him back to the other side of the room. He started kicking and screaming but Legolas held on. Even with his elvish strength, he had difficulty bringing back the human and many times, they stumbled and fell; but the elf never let go.

Finally, they arrived to the entrance of a dark corridor where the rest of the fellowship and escaped. Panting, he let go of Aragorn, who slipped from his grasp and fell down against the wall, limp as a ragged doll. Legolas could hear the orcs coming closer and knew that they had not a moment to lose. Grabbing Aragorn once more he took off running. This time, the ranger seemed to come back to his senses and together they ran along the dark corridor; until finally they had joined the rest of the fellowship.

As they arrived, Aragorn took the lead as if the accident on the bridge had never happened: "Run, all of you! He cried, the orcs are at our heels and if we don´t get out of here fast this forsaken mine will bury us alive!"

Exhausted and afraid, the hobbits forced their tired legs to move and began running after Strider, with Legolas and Gimli at the rear. For what seemed like hours, they ran and stumbled on the rocks, turning left and right, taking stairs at times and others going down. For the first time, Legolas´s sense of direction failed him. The smoke, the jagged pieces of rocks, the smell of orcs and blood and the constant rushing noise made him unable to understand where they were going. But he trusted the human to guide them the right way. After all, he had already been there. Finally they came to a narrow staircase leading all the way up; it was so dark that the elf could only see the first steps.

"This is the last part! This staircase leads to outside. At the end there is a door, we can escape there, but quickly before we ran out of air! Screamed Aragorn, taking the steps two by two, his hand on the pommel of his sword. Indeed, smoke from the explosion was starting to fill the air, making their lungs gasp for breath. Legolas could hear the sound of the orcs, not far behind them. Without a second thought, he ran after the hobbits.

At last, they came to the end of the stairway. The top was so narrow that Aragorn was crouched on his knees, trying to push the door with his arms. But the solid rock wasn´t even moving and they were running out of time.

"Move back, all of you! I need space!" Stepping back, he threw himself against the door and finally it broke, sending Aragorn tumbling down the stairs. Luckily Gimli caught him and half threw him outside. Quickly the others followed. Being last, Legolas threw what remained of the door tumbling down the stairs as to block the way if orcs where to come. As he finished, he looked up and saw that the hobbits were sprawled on the ground, their eyes closes. The sky was dark and little stars could be seen. A gentle breeze swayed the grass and as he turned around he saw Aragorn moving about, quickly collecting their belongings. It was the first time he saw him clearly since the bridge had collapsed and he didn't look so good. His face was grim with dirt, his shirt was ripped and blood dripped from his shoulder, probably from when he had pushed the door open. As he grabbed his bag, the elf saw his hands shaking and his breath coming out ragged and uneven. Quietly he made his way towards him:

"Aragorn, are you injured? You should let me look at that shoulder and rest."

"I thank you for your concern but I am fine. You should go check on the hobbits, we need to get moving."

Knowing how stubborn the human was and how his mood could be when he was like this, Legolas preferred not to anger him and didn't press him. He went to the hobbits and quickly roused them, saying they needed to go. Without a word, they got up when Frodo stopped abruptly.

"Wait! Where is Gandalf! Surely we cannot leave without him!" he said, looking at Aragorn, who as if a great weight had fallen upon his shoulder, turned around, avoiding the hobbit´s intense gaze.

"I am sorry. He fell on the bridge and took Durin´s bane down with him. He died saving our lives and there was nothing I could do to save him.


End file.
